Pretty in Pearls: A Forgive My Fins Novella (HarperTeen Impulse) by Tera Lynn Childs Page A

centers around the huge dance floor laid out in the south garden: a one-hundred-foot square surrounded by the glittering swirl of an artificial whirlpool. Legend says that any couple who kisses on the dance floor will be forever happy.
    It’s just a romantic fairy tale, but it’s fun to think about.
    “Where should we start?” Lily asks. “Food, drink, or dancing?”
    “What about the carnival?”
    I can see the top of the torpedo tube poking up behind the palace. It’s an amazing ride. A giant circular tube made of clear plastic, open at the bottom so merfolk can get in. Once inside, the three operators merge their powers to send the water inside the tube rushing, taking the riders with it. It’s like being a launched torpedo.
    Lily grins. “Let’s do it.”
    She grabs my hand and we swim around back. One day we’ll probably feel too old to ride the rides, but for now we’re going to have our fun while we can.
    Two hours later, we’ve ridden every ride. Twice. It helps when your date is the princess and everyone offers to let her cut in line. She usually declined, but she gave in on the Octowhirl when we wanted to go a third time.
    By the time we float back toward the dance floor, I’ve declared this the best Sea Harvest Festival ever. I haven’t had to see or deal with or even worry about any merboys. It’s been nothing but fun, just the two of us.
    I can tell, though, that Lily is missing Quince.
    “When does he come home now?” I ask.
    She gives me a lovelorn smile. “Monday, after he takes his mom to work at her new job.”
    “Two days.” I smile back. “That’s not long at all.”
    She shakes her head as she looks out over the dance floor. “Nope, I can handle two more days.” Her gaze stops on something—someone—and her mouth drops open. “Oh no.”
    I know what I’m going to see before I follow the direction of her stare. There, at the far edge of the dance floor, is Riatus.
    “How dare he show up here?” she demands. “After he flirted with you and promised to—”
    “He didn’t flirt with me,” I say. “He didn’t promise me anything.”
    I spin to face her and swim backward toward the dance floor. “You know what, I’m going to dance by myself.”
    Lily swims after me. “Oh no you’re not.”
    There is something freeing about dancing with your best friend in front of the entire kingdom. I can’t say I’m not thinking about boys at all—Riatus is only half a dance floor away—but I’m trying not to. Lily and I let loose, dancing however we want. Wild, crazy, spinning, kicking, and generally sending the water around us into a tailspin. We draw the amused attention of some of the other dancers, but for the most part we’re in our own world.
    Until someone taps me on the shoulder.
    I stiffen, seriously expecting it to be Riatus because—well, because . . . my luck . As I spin around, I’m only slightly relieved to see that it’s Prax.
    Despite my intention to completely ignore Riatus’s unexplained warning about him, something has seemed a little off with him from the beginning. Still, he’s been nothing but nice to me, so I smile.
    “You two look like you’re having fun,” he says, flicking a glance at Lily, who is still dancing like a crazy mergirl.
    “We are,” I reply.
    “I don’t want to break up this awesome twosome,” he says, “but I was hoping for a dance.”
    I hesitate. Something in my gut tells me to listen to Riatus on this one. But then again, something even bigger from somewhere in the vicinity of my bruised ego tells me that nothing would bother Riatus more than seeing me dance with Prax.
    I kick my hesitation to the side, take his offered hand, and say, “I’d love to.”
    He leads me a little ways deeper into the crowd, and a little closer to where Riatus is dancing with his sister. Maybe Prax wants to stick it to Riatus as much as I do. Works for me.
    “I hope that big lug didn’t scare you off the other night,” he says as we start